Sally Dominguez

AUSTRALIA (1969)

Sally Dominguez graduated from Sydney University with a degree in architecture, but she is best known in her native Australia, and internationally, as an inventor and entrepreneur. Dominguez creates solutions that reflect real problems she encounters in her own life.

In 2001, she and business partner Susan Burns launched BUG Design (Beautiful. Useful. Green.), a line of kids' furniture designed to complement the aesthetics of a modern living space. Their primary product, the Nest Highchair®, combines a form reminiscent of Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chair with a pedestal base and polyethylene seat. A mother of two, Dominguez designed the Nest as a response to clunky highchairs with wide footprints. In 2003, the Nest was awarded the prestigious Australian Design Mark for innovation in design.

Moving in a different direction, in 2003, when Dominguez was unable to find a rainwater harvesting tank that could fit under her patio, she invented the Rainwater Hog. An especially smart design for the Australian market – where water use restrictions are both in vogue and the law – the Hog holds 47 gallons of water, and multiple Hogs can be put together if more storage is needed. Dedicated to conservation internationally, Dominguez introduced the Rainwater Hog in the U.S. in 2008.

A creative and intrepid designer, Sally Dominguez has appeared as a panelist on the Australian television show The New Inventors, and her work has been covered in publications internationally.